Boarding Pass

Dear Globetrotter:

Welcome to the 390th issue of your monthly overseas travel magazine.

First, here are a few things you should be aware of.

In Lima, Peru, criminals have been posing as hotel guests at conferences and special events in 5-star hotels and prominent restaurants. When the opportunities arise, they sneak away with guests’ purses, laptops, cell phones and other valuables.

An American couple disembarked a ship in Rome in May, planning to get some sleep in the Tiburtina train station before catching a bus the next day. A local befriended them and offered them two cappuccinos, which turned out to be drugged and made them fall sleep. When they awoke, their possessions had been stolen.

Authorities in Italy say this is happening more frequently, on trains as well as in other locations.

Tragically, in the case above, the husband went looking for the police while still in a daze, wandered onto the tracks and was killed. The thief was arrested after the wife identified him on surveillance video.

The dumps around Naples, Italy, are filled to capacity. Trash collectors stopped service in December ’07 and the garbage has been piling up on the streets and sidewalks ever since.

The stench is driving away tourists; doctors are concerned about dioxins from trash being burned, let alone diseases spread by rats and insects, and, for its personnel around the city, the U.S. military is sampling tap water and soil in the area for pesticides and pollutants.

Construction on incinerators has been delayed due to money constraints and corruption investigations.

In 2004, activist John Gilmore challenged the U.S. government in court. Citing a constitutional right to fly without ID, he had refused to show his ID to security agents but also refused any secondary search. Judges in the 9th Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that he had a right to travel without showing ID so long as he was willing to undergo an additional pat-down, etc.

On June 5, the Transportation Security Administration announced, “Beginning Saturday, June 21, 2008 passengers that willfully refuse to provide identification at security checkpoint (sic) will be denied access to the secure area of airports. This change will apply exclusively to individuals that simply refuse to provide any identification or assist transportation security officers in ascertaining their identity.”

“This new procedure will not affect passengers that may have misplaced, lost or otherwise do not have ID but are cooperative with officers. Cooperative passengers without ID may be subjected to additional screening protocols, including enhanced physical screening, enhanced carry-on and/or checked baggage screening, interviews with behavior detection or law enforcement officers and other measures.”

So an ID now is “required,” and if you do not have your ID then you need an excuse other than “I have a right to travel without it.” Beyond that, if you do not agree to a secondary search, you will not be allowed near the plane.

The TSA says the goal of this measure is to increase safety. It may help, so long as the “no-fly list” is accurate and complete and people of ill intent do not simply claim to have forgotten their IDs or use fake ones.

The TSA also has begun using body-scanning machines on randomly chosen passengers at 10 U.S. airports: Albuquerque, Baltimore, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York’s JFK and Reagan National in Washington, D.C.

These are the devices that, bouncing “millimeter waves” off the subject, can see through clothing (but not through plastic or rubber) and reveal to a technician in another room the explicit black-and-white image of the person’s body. Any weapons or wires (not obscured by plastic or rubber) are plainly visible. Even beads of sweat can be seen.

The procedure, which the passenger goes through in a booth after clearing the metal detector, takes about half a minute. Anyone who refuses to go through the scanner (about 10% of passengers, so far) can instead submit to a pat-down, etc.

These scanners already have been in use in a few courthouses, jails, U.S. embassies and, overseas, at military checkpoints and Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport (Aug. ’07, pg. 95) and now, some surmise, may be introduced here at rail stations, arenas and office buildings.

Be aware that all Indian airlines, a few Middle Eastern airlines and Cathay Pacific Airways all require that the person whose credit card was used to book a flight must accompany the passenger to airport check-in or, in some cases, when picking up the tickets.

Several people were removed from planes belonging to the United Arab Emirates’ Ras Al Khaimah Airways (RAK) recently because their tickets had been bought online with not their own credit cards but those of friends or relatives. Each had to purchase another ticket in order to take the flight.

Many cruise lines do not allow infants less than a year old on cruises. Carnival Cruise Lines last year raised from four months to six the minimum age requirement, and as of October 2008 Royal Caribbean International, the world’s second-biggest cruise line, no longer will allow infants under six months on any of its ships.

Up until now it has allowed any infants to sail, but the line has recognized that certain types of medical attention can be provided only at land-based hospitals.

Proof of a baby’s age may be requested, and one or more adults accompanying an underage infant may also be denied boarding and will not receive a refund of the cruise price.

Darlene Voorhees of Friant, California, wrote, “In the March ’08 ‘Far Horizons’ column, Mr. Keck, writing on Chile, said that the staff of Termas de Puyuhuapi Hotel & Resort touted the Puyuhuapi hot springs as ‘the only such pools at sea level on the planet.’ However, on the North Island of New Zealand, south of Whitianga and Hahei there are, right on the beach just above the surf, natural hot thermal springs. You shovel out a pool of your own!

“Granted, they are not developed, commercial pools, but they are natural and right at sea level — in a place called Hot Water Beach!”

I sent a copy of Darlene’s letter to Randy Keck, who replied, “I was referring to actual formed mineral hot spring pools. I have dug out and sat in the hot water at Hot Water Beach in New Zealand — and have done the same thing in the Antarctic — but these are small, temporary, self-dig pits that are covered over by the next tide. Perhaps my original definition was not precise enough.”

I sent a copy of Randy’s answer to Darlene, who wrote, “Yes, the NZ one is covered when the tide comes in. When I was there in October ’06 when I was 68 years old, other people were guarding their large dug pools, so I decided not to dig my own, but it was fun watching other people, and, believe me, by just scooting away a little sand with my feet, it was too hot to stay in the hole!”

Vincent M. Jolivet of Kenmore, Washington, wrote, “Contributors to ITN should use Richard Berner’s feature, ‘Touring Alsace and Burgundy by Car’ (June ’08, pg. 6), as a model for writing travel articles.

“In each city, he names not only the hotel but its address, telephone, Internet address, price and even the cost of nearby parking. He does the same for restaurants, also rating them from good to bad. Of course, he describes the tourist sites too. Besides that, his article is interesting.

“I have been to France numerous times, French is my native language and I have been to most of the cities Mr. Berner describes. Nevertheless, he made me want to retrace his steps using his article!”

ITN’s readers write the bulk of the material in each issue. All of you know what experiences and discoveries of yours will be of interest or helpful to anyone following in your steps, and there’s always something to share after every trip, making each of you qualified to contribute.

Pick one spot or activity from a recent excursion and have fun describing it. Where to send a letter or feature article is shown on page 68; a feature article runs about 1,500 words and includes pictures.

You could request a copy of our writer guidelines or find them on our website (under “Subscribers”), but the main things to remember to include with any write-up are specific trip dates, approximate prices and contact info for any travel firm mentioned. It wouldn’t hurt to throw in your phone number, too, in case we have any last-minute questions.

98.4% of ITN’s subscribers have passports. No other publication can claim a percentage as high. For whatever you write, you will have a rapt audience. Even the littlest travel tip will be appreciated by someone. Share. — David Tykol, Editor